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Family: Equidae Specie: Unicorn
Unicorn is a type of hybrid animal that is in the family Equidae. They usually have sharp and long horn. While other classes in the same family bare a variety of neutral to dark shade in color, this animal has either white or bright colors. The distinctive horn and the colorful fur are the features that attract many hunters to look for this animal. A typical unicorn is about 16 hands high measuring from the hooves and the hand measurements is about a man’s palm, or approximately 4 inches. The female will be slight smaller than the male. The mane of unicorn is known to be softest and fullest locks compare to all the species in the family. The locks very thick and full with the texture like human hair; therefore, people also hunt them down for this special feature. The first mentioned of this animal was from a sighting that was in tropical forest around East Coast of India and Southeast Asia. The horn was what given the animal a different characteristic from other horses, the unicorn’s horn ranges from 12 to 23 inches with a sharp point at the end. Its horn has the same structure as Narwhal; the horn is made from protein called keratin. As scientists study, the horn is a defense mechanism since unicorn, unlike horses, prefer to be in the wild. Its horn is popular merchandise due to a high demand in Asia and Western countries. The horn is said to contain telomerase that known to prevent old age. Unicorns are able to have bright skin due to it mutation of melanin. Instead of producing eumelanin, unicorns usually produce pheomelanin which causes its skin to be red to yellow in color. Unicorns also have a special type of fur; its fur is thin and transparent filaments which causes the unicorn to look pink or pale white. The male will usually be pale yellow to white, while the female would range from pink to light purple. Due to special characteristics, many have tried to hunt down this creature. Because of mutation in genetics, unicorns have short lives; a typical unicorn lives around 10 years. Therefore, unicorns are considered one of the rarest animals on planet. Unicorns are known to appear around tropical forest because it gives the appropriate temperature for mating. The way they mate is like normal mammals, but the mating season for unicorn is around spring times when the female is at its peak for fertilization. The mating process starts with the male starting to neigh many times until a female appears; this process could take a few hours. The female then will go and sniff around the male to decide whether the male is a good mate. Then the reproduction process will start. The female will have from 2 to 4 babies at a time, and a new born unicorn has an average size of 6-9 hands high. Unicorns are herbivores, so the food that they can intake is plants. Unicorns would usually eat grass and other leaves on variety of bushes; they also attract to sweet fruits like berries and cherries.